The Curious Researcher, Chapter 2

A few things that stood out too me was the use of search engines on the internet. I feel that our generation relies heavily on search engines, I know I do. I am a huge fan of search engines like Google and Yahoo. The book stresses how these search engines are not very effective, and are not he best choice. Ballenger talks about how most likely the information you are getting from these websites are incorrect or out of date. Published books or journals or anything like that will be more factual and give you better information.
I also found the interviewing interesting because of the paper we are doing now in WRA and we are required to have an interview. I do honestly feel that interviewing someone can be the best source because you are getting first hand knowledge. I usually do not like doing interviews because sometimes it seems awkward and I do not know how to start. In the Curious Researcher, Ballenger does discuss this. He says to start with some sort of flattery to break the ice. It is also good to remember that an interview is supposed to be like a conversation not a survey.

Cultural Artifact Reflection

For my cultural artifact I researched "Stop Online Piracy" Act, also known as SOPA.  I felt that this was a cultural artifact because it effected our world and it something that is still going to be present. My research process for this was I used two websites LexisNexis Academic and Proquest. I was limited in my research because this is such a current event topic and became relevant a month ago. These two websites allowed me to search for articles relevant to SOPA in magazines and newspapers.
I really liked how Barb showed us how to use the subtitles and how they lead your paper, those are really helpful and I'm sure I will use those in the future. I set up my paper by presenting a world where there was no freedom of speech. Then for my supporting paragraphs I spoke about the Pros and Cons of Sopa. And for my final paragraphs I wrote about how SOPA will effect me. I enjoyed writing this paper because this topic is so new and relevant and applies to my life.